Once upon an imaginary friend
by Little Miss Manic
Summary: It was against the rules. It broke every law, every limit... But when the unreal becomes real and dreams cease to be dreams, can hope be found in the heart of a child? Transformer/Human fic, mild slash, hint at child abuse. OptimusXProwl


Author's note: This is a work of fiction. I do not own Transformers.

Chapter One: The end of the beginning.

Six year old Emily Mitchell stared out the window at the rain. She looked up as she felt familiar fingers running through her hair. At seven feet tall, he towered over her. He was looking over her head at the rain, just as she had been doing moments earlier. His sky blue eyes moved downwards, a smile playing across his face. "I bet there will be some amazing puddles to jump in when the rain stops." She burst into tears and not for the first time, he wished he could put his arms around her. "It's going to be ok..." She climbed in bed, curling into a ball and looked up at him, her voice a strangled whisper "Its not going to be ok. They are going to get rid of me too, just like the other three. Oh Zin... What am I going to do?"

He placed a tender kiss on her forehead, wishing she could feel it and tried to sound reassuring. "You are going to sleep. We will worry about what to do in the morning." She tried to argue as she snuggled wearily against her pillow, sniffling. "But... " He pressed a finger to his lips "Shh. No buts. Sleep. I will keep watch." The little girl, exhausted from crying, didn't have much trouble doing what was asked of her. Try as she might, her eyelids closed in spite of her desire to remain awake. Zin smirked as his charge entered the world of dreams and reached into a subspace pocket, digging around for a moment before pulling out what appeared to be an ancient leather bound book with the words "BOOK OF ANSWERS" burnt into the cover and a pair of reading glasses. Sitting cross legged on the bed, he slipped on the reading glasses and thumbed through the book in his lap. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he knew he couldn't sit there and watch the poor little girl who slept beside him go through the heart wrenching agony of having yet another adoptive family abandon her. Something had to be done. He knew that on this plane of existence, there was little he could do but watch. Thats why he had to find a way. He had promised her he would take care of her. He intended to keep that promise. The only question was how.

Hours later, he had his answer. Gazing down at the sleeping child he had guarded, watched over and loved for the past seven years, he wondered if he had any right to do what he had planned. Coming to a decision, he flickered out of one existence and into another. He only prayed it would be worth the cost.

No imaginary friend could survive in reality. Yet without hesitation, he did what no other imaginary friend had ever attempted. For her, he would risk destroying himself.

If he couldn't help her, he would find someone who could.

The pain wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Ripping through the fabric that held him bound to the plane of incorporeal, he forced himself to exist. His powers began to drain almost instantly. Frowning, he began his search. There wasn't much time.

There in the darkness, a flicker of light caught his eye. Relief flooded him. There. There was hope. Struggling against the waves of dizziness caused by all that was real eating away at him, he made his way into the dream of another, letting it form him into a shape that fit.

Deep in recharge, Optimus Prime was dreaming of the past. The smoke and dust from the destruction of Iacon choked his air intakes and burned his optics as he frantically dug through the rubble of a once proud city.

Hope. There had to be hope. Just one sparkling. That's all he needed. Just one, one who hadn't been ripped to shreds by the Decepticon's carnage. Just one to tell him he wasn't an utter and complete failure.

It was then he saw him. An ancient mech, covered with rust, literally disintegrating before his eyes. His spark jerked as he saw what was held in those trembling arms. A sparkling. A tiny, precious sparkling.

A choked sob caught on his processor's as the mech held her out, his optics pleading even as he crumbled into dust.

"Please. She needs help..."

Without hesitation, Optimus reached for the precious sparkling. "She will be my hope..."

There was no warning, as his systems burst to life, ripping him from the dream with wide optics and wildly accelerating air intakes. In his processor, information burned. Images, addresses and instructions. With a shudder, he jerked out of his recharge bed, making his way to the computer system installed in the new base. He would keep his promise.

Emily awoke to the feel of fingers brushing through her hair. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she saw the outline of her beloved guardian, lit by the light of the moon.

"Zin?"

He smiled at her, a moment before she realized for the first time in her life, she could feel his touch. Sitting straight up in bed, she reached out, her hand coming in contact with warm flesh instead of air. Her imaginary friend had become real.

It had been well worth the cost, to offer the comfort he had longed to give for so many years. Even if it would only last a moment. Lovingly, he took her in his arms, joy flooding him as he finally got to hug the little girl who had given him so much. Forcing his voice to remain steady, he spoke the words he had repeated so many times.

"It's going to be ok Emily."

One year later-

"Mr. and Mrs. Prime?"

The social worker regarded the couple in front of her critically. The man was tall, well built and had an impeccable record as a deputy sheriff with the Mission City PD. His wife was a special education teacher at the local elementary school. They even had twin boys only three years older then Emily.

"May I ask what your reasons for requesting this particular child are?"

They looked at each other, before the man spoke. "My wife is no longer able to have children. We both love kids and this little girl looks like she could use all the love she can get."

The social worker nodded, finding the answer satisfactory. "You do understand that Emily has some emotional and communicative issues, correct? She hasn't spoken since her last foster family gave her up."

This time, the woman spoke. "Of course we do. The poor thing has obviously been traumatized. We hope to provide a stable home where she feels safe and cared for. With my experience in teaching, I believe I may be able to help her."

It wasn't an exact lie, really. There couldn't be a more stable home then the one the little girl would be living in, even if they hadn't told the exact truth about why they wanted to adopt her.

Ratchet had even forced Optimus to undergo a psychological evaluation when he had first come to them, muttering about dreams and finding someone named Emily Mitchell. Four months later and extensive use of military power to cut through red tape, they found an orphan matching the description Optimus had given. For reasons unknown, the usually calm and cool Autobot Commander became adamant about adopting her as soon as possible, even though the very idea of a 30 foot tall robot being a parent to a tiny human child was utterly absurd.

Yet here they were, doing it, with a plan just crazy enough to work.

Two hours after the finishing touches to their new robotic holoforms were complete. Optimus had assembled his team and put the plan into action. Prowl and Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. After explaining his plan to them, they had Ratchet give him another evaluation, only to learn that Optimus had actually come up with a very good idea. A normal, healthy, human family was just what was needed. To everyone's utter shock, after the twins were told what had happened to the poor girl, they actually seemed eager to help. Prowl, to everyone's credit, had perfected the plan, hammering out the details as only he could.

Still, as Patrick and Olivia Prime signed the final adoption papers, they couldn't help but wonder what would come next.


End file.
